A study by Nigeria’s leading accounting firm, Akintola Williams Deloitte, has blamed the high cost of doing business at the nation’s seaports on the Nigeria Customs Service and other government agencies, claiming that Customs processes are responsible for not less than 82.1 per cent of the charges incurred by consignees.
This assertion was contained in an industry report titled: ‘Public Private Partnership as an anchor for diversifying the Nigeria economy: Lagos Container Terminals concession as a case study’, which the firm has just published.
Akintola Williams Deloitte stated that its value chain analysis of a 20-foot container laden with cargo worth N44.42m ($100,000) imported into Nigeria from China revealed that about N6.5m would be required to clear and transport the container out of the port. Out of this amount, about N5.3m (representing 82.1 per cent) is paid to the NCS as Import Duty, Comprehensive Import Supervision Scheme, ECOWAS Trade Liberalisation Scheme, Port Development Surcharge and Value Added Tax.
